Yugen had no desire to start unnecessary drama; he wanted a smooth school life. Masaki had hesitated but joined them after a word of encouragement from Miyuki. During lunch, Erika asked about the investigation, but Yugen simply replied that there were no major updates. The conversation eventually turned back to the practical lesson.
"Yugen-san finished his task in a single try," Honoka noted.
"Well, if the action time is a whole second, it's pretty stable," Yugen replied.
"Except that before that, he was doing 1,000 sets in 30 seconds," Shizuku added.
"Don't mention that, Shizuku," Yugen groaned.
The others jumped on the topic. Masaki couldn't hide his shock. Even with CAD support, Flight Magic only operates at 0.5-second intervals. Doing something 50 times faster than that was beyond human limits.
"I'm actually quite jealous of Ichijou-san," Miyuki said suddenly.
"Jealous? Of me?" Masaki was visibly flustered by the sudden attention from his crush. Miyuki gave him a smile that was unmistakably reminiscent of her mother, Maya.
"Yes. Because the number of people Yugen-san shows his true emotions to is very limited."
"...Miyuki. You're not wrong, but you don't have to say it like that," Yugen sighed, chiding her gently.
Her comment was rooted in a subtle streak of jealousy. Yugen admitted to himself that he was selective about who he vented to. Dumping negative emotions on everyone was exhausting for both parties. Thus, if Yugen "poisoned" someone with his true thoughts, it was a sign of immense trust.
Even though she was his fiancée, Yugen didn't want the kind-hearted Miyuki to worry more than necessary. While he was honest with her about his feelings, he rarely complained or unloaded his burdens onto her. He suspected that this was what made her feel restless.
"It's true," Shizuku chimed in. "Usually, Yugen would purposefully vary his action times and still hit exactly 30 seconds, but today he kept them all uniform."
"...I won't deny I was getting a bit uncharacteristically heated," Yugen muttered.
"Purposefully varying the times while still hitting the total mark... even I would find that difficult," Mikihiko admitted.
Normally, an instructor would have complained about such "playing around," but Yugen's test results were so indisputable that no one dared speak up. While Yugen gave a resigned response to Shizuku, Tatsuya spoke up.
"In that regard, Tatsuya kept his perfectly uniform as well," Honoka observed.
"I'm not as skilled as Yugen when it comes to fine control," Tatsuya said. "I view these detailed exercises as part of my training."
"Even with the massive amount of magic power you have now?" Masaki asked, tilting his head.
"Perhaps because I have it," Tatsuya replied cryptically.
Masaki was puzzled, but he could feel that Tatsuya's magical capacity had increased significantly since they fought together in Kyoto. Yet, Tatsuya's Psion control was so absolute—not a single drop leaked—that Masaki couldn't measure his true strength.
After school, Yugen left the Club Management Group's affairs to Takuma and Erika. He returned to the Shiba residence, changed into his riding suit, and mounted his bike, the Dreadnought, heading for the Independent Magic-Equipped Battalion headquarters at Kasumigaura.
Since the Dreadnought was registered as a military vehicle, Yugen passed through the security gates with a simple ID swipe. He rode straight to the headquarters building and parked.
His plan to focus on the Humanists while searching for Gu Jie remained unchanged. However, the letter Tatsuya had shown him—suggesting that the units of his own magic-capable acquaintances might be compromised—made him uneasy. Furthermore, Gu Jie was sourcing "Generators" from places other than the usual enhanced soldier programs. The police alone didn't have the manpower to investigate all the organizations Yugen had identified through his knowledge of Zhou Gongjin.
Yugen had hesitated to call Major Kazama, but a face-to-face meeting was necessary. He was ushered into the room immediately upon arrival—a perk of his de facto status being higher than Kazama's. Naturally, his etiquette upon entering the room followed strict military protocol.
"Excuse me, Major Kazama."
"I appreciate you coming all this way, Excellency Kamijo," Kazama replied.
"At ease. And please, since it's just the two of us, speak to me as your age would dictate."
"If you insist... what brings you here today?"
It was their first real talk since the New Year. No new equipment requests had come in lately. Even though Yugen was no longer part of the Ten Master Clans, Kazama found it difficult to treat a man who was essentially his superior as a mere technical officer.
As they sat on the sofas, Yugen's expression turned solemn.
"Major, I'm sure you're aware of the current incident, and I know you've been using people in the Police Ministry to flush out the culprit. I'm not here to punish you for that... but are you aware that General Soga has requested cooperation from the 101st Brigade?"
"(So, he knew...)" Kazama thought. "Yes. However, I have received strict orders from Major General Saeki not to involve ourselves in this incident."
It was a blatant contradiction—making a mess behind the scenes and then refusing to help. But complaining to Kazama, the battalion commander, would do nothing if Saeki was the one holding the leash.
The issue was no longer just a Ten Master Clans problem. By targeting the Clans, the terrorists were signaling a "Holy War" of magician-slaying to the Humanists. Modern magic alone was insufficient to stop copycats who were well-versed in Ancient Magic. The Kamizumi and Kagurazaka families were moving to address this, but the other families were being painfully slow.
"Why? Are you going to tell me that Major General Saeki's position makes it impossible for her to move?"
"..."
"Major Kazama, I'm not here to blame you. I know your position limits you. But then, why did you allow cooperation that effectively sacrificed your allies? If things had gone differently, the Chiba family would be flying the flag of rebellion against the National Defense Force right now."
Many disciples of the Chiba family's Senjin-ryu held positions in the military and police. If the act of setting up the Chiba's eldest son and his disciples came to light, the Chiba family could collapse inter-organizational cooperation with a single word.
Worst-case scenario, the fallout would reach the Kamizumi family—the root of the Chiba's martial arts—and accelerate a violent "purge" of the Defense Force. Even General Soga feared the amount of blood that would be spilled, which was why he was currently watching to see if the organization could heal itself.
"Fortunately, I have word from the Kamizumi family that they 'won't move seriously yet.' Now, to the main point: as of this operation, I have been granted full management authority over all military magic related to Special Officer Ooguro."
"...Wait, you don't mean—"
"As the head of the Kagurazaka family, I have determined that the management of Special Officer Ooguro's Material Burst is too much for a single brigade to handle. I have received the mandate from General Soga."
Along with the government-defined powers of a Ten Master Clan head, all various agreements between the Defense Force and the Ten Master Clans were now managed by the two "Guardian" families. This included the contract between the Independent Magic-Equipped Battalion and the Yotsuba family.
Yugen now held the final release authority for Tatsuya's strategic magic, including Material Burst, Mist Dispersion, Holy Trident, and Trillion Drive.
Yugen had already told Tatsuya about this. When he confessed that managing Tatsuya's magic would be a "pain in the neck," Tatsuya had shot back, "Managing your magic sounds like an even bigger pain." Yugen found that highly regrettable.
As for the Kamizumi family, Mototsugu had told him, "I've got my hands full with my grandfather, so I'll leave it to you, Yugen." It felt like he'd been dumped with all the troublesome chores, but he accepted it.
Finally, Yugen took possession of the Third Eye Eclipse. Since he was the only one capable of maintaining the hardware, it made the most sense. Honestly, he could build a CAD that surpassed it if he felt like it, but he saw no immediate need and planned to keep using it.
And if Tatsuya ever ended up going into space, Yugen was more than willing to build a successor model that would allow him to fire Material Burst from outside the atmosphere.
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